


you boil in my veins

by Anonymous



Category: Promare (2019)
Genre: Bad end, Bloodplay, Burnish Galo Thymos, Captivity, Dead Dove: Do Not Eat, Foresight Foundation Lio Fotia, Gang Rape, M/M, Medical Kink, Orgasm Delay/Denial, Rape/Non-con Elements
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-04-12
Updated: 2020-04-12
Packaged: 2021-03-02 01:07:19
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Rape/Non-Con
Chapters: 1
Words: 5,401
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23606518
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/
Summary: Galo Thymos, leader of the Mad Burnish, is captured by Foresight Foundation's Lio Fotia, who has quite a few plans for his new test subject.
Relationships: Lio Fotia/Galo Thymos
Comments: 7
Kudos: 51
Collections: Anonymous





	you boil in my veins

**Author's Note:**

> don't @ me, idk none of this makes sense.

“Where’s that throne of yours now?” Lio asked, lips turning up at one corner as he looked down at the Burnish sprawled on the ground. His armor had been broken and chipped away, his ridiculous  _ matoi _ shattered into shards of fire. Careless. There was nothing left to protect himself when Lio had shot him with the ice gun, the crystals forming something akin to handcuffs around his wrists.

He tilted his sword, sharp and ice cold, pressing the tip of the blade in the soft and yielding underneath the Burnish’s jaw. He tilted his head up, eyes sparking with nothing but additional  _ challenge _ , even as he shivered from the cold of Lio’ blade.

“You think it’s over already? And here I thought we were just starting to have some  _ real _ fun.”

“I don’t think you’re in any position to be so cocky,” Lio neered, pushing the sharp point of the blade into that tender skin, just enough to sting, for a few drops of blood to pool around the tip. 

He watched as the Burnish’s eyes sparked and then his body flared up, flames lashing out around him. Lio took a half step back and raised the arm of his mech to brace himself. He cursed under his breath, the Burnish had broken through the ice restraints and was coming straight at him with a flame-crafted sword. 

“You’ve already lost.” Lio didn’t bother holding back the irritation in his voice as he met the strike of the sword head on, baring against the strike. 

“I’ll never lose with a soul that burns as bright as mine!” As if for emphasis, the flames coming from his sword flared, Lio could feel the heat through his visor. A bead of sweat dripped down from his hairline.

“ _ Enough _ of this! You’re just irritating me now!” He yelled, pushing through and darting to the side, taking advantage when the Burnish stumbled without his sword to bear against anymore. He only wanted to posture, Lio could tell the other was already getting tired--even his grandiose yelling had gotten less exuberant than it had been at the beginning of the fight. 

Lio didn’t care if he was tired or not, he had an objective. He took the split second to recharge his sword, watching the glint of the absolute zero blade reflect in the sun, before he cut straight through the Burnish’s sword, close enough to the hilt that there was nothing left for him to fight with. The man’s eye widened, and Lio didn’t hesitate before he swung out with one leg, knocking the man flat down to the ground.

“Burning soul, huh?” Lio sneered, eyes cold as he stared down at the man, lifting one foot to press down against his chest to keep him from clamoring back up. 

“Don’t think you’ve got me down so easily,” He wheezed, eyes clenching shut against the pressure, “Galo Thymos doesn’t give up that easily.” 

“You’re not pulling anything again.” Lio pulled out his side arm with his free hand, shooting ice against Galo’s wrists. He spun his blade with a flourish and pressed the tip against the hollow of Galo’s throat again. This time, the fight was really over, this time. Lio could hear the buzz of the helicopters in the background--they would be landing to take him away in minutes. “You don’t deserve your flames,  _ Galo Thymos _ .”

Galo was pinned beneath him, breaths coming out ragged as Lio pressed his foot down against his ribs harder. It didn’t stop his attitude though, as he harshly breathed out, “And you do?”

Lio glared down at him, pressing his foot down just that much harder. If he heard the sound of something cracking, he didn’t care, even as Galo’s face contorted in pain and flames lashed out. Lio shot the ice out again before Galo could get any ideas of fighting his way out again, but Lio could tell he was done, no matter how much he wanted to run his mouth. He had taken a beating, and Lio could see he was bruised and battered. Galo’s flames may heal him, but it would take some time before he could recover from this. 

Knowing that, Lio thought about grinding his heel down again one more time to punish the quip. But there was no point in hurting him anymore here--it was a waste of time when he couldn’t collect any meaningful data on it. Besides, the helicopters were landing--sleek white and sharp lines to the designs, but they were unmarked. They were still unmistakeable, even if they didn’t have the Foresight Industries logo plastered across the side. Kray Foresight was many things, but subtle about his aesthetic was not one of them. 

“You’re lucky I’m not going to make you clean these off,” He said casually, wiping one of the smudges off against the edge of Galo’s leg. He watched, disinterestedly, as Galo tried to kick back out, but groaned and twisted at the pain the movement caused.

“No wonder you weren’t chosen,” Galo says through a cough, a sickly wheeze as his breath caught. Hmm, had Lio punctured one of his lungs? Oops. “Act like you’re so high and mighty but the flames will never choose someone like you.”

“We’ll just have to see what we can do to change that, won’t we?” Lio asked, thoughtfully. The extraction team was filtering out, rushing to secure and collect Galo. One of them was fussing about the state of him, but Lio didn’t pay any attention to it. He waited to make sure that they had Thymos in the flame dampening restraints. He didn’t look away from Lio once as they hauled him up and into the secured helicopter, but Lio wasn’t worried about him anymore. He sheathed his sword and boarded the other aircraft. 

As Lio started to remove his helmet and the pieces of his armor, he was already thinking about what he would be able to do. He wasn’t sure they had ever encountered a Burnish with such high . . . affinity to the Promare. Burning soul might actually be an apt term for whatever it was that Thymos had. Either way, Lio was certainly going to have fun with him. He couldn’t have imagined capturing a better specimen. The attitude wasn’t ideal, but it was nothing that Lio couldn’t take care of on his own. Or with a little bit of help.

***

“What the fuck?” 

Lio looked up from his computer at the sound of the sleep-hoarse words, glancing at Galo for a moment before looking back at his screen to do a quick check of his vitals. Galo was hooked up to so many different monitors that Lio probably knew the condition of his body better than he did.

“Glad you’ve finally decided to wake up,” Lio said, taking note of a few things before he stood up to go look at him closer, now that he was awake. He wanted to see the look on his face when the reality of his situation set in.

“Who are you?” There was confusion, a dim type of recognition, but he wasn’t able to put a face to the voice that he was hearing yet. It would make sense that he would still be a little confused with how much sedation he had been under.

“Don’t you remember me?” Lio asked, feigning hurt.

“ _ You _ ,” Galo sputtered, “You’re just a kid! Shit, you don’t know what--”

“ _ Stop _ ,” Lio snapped, voice sharp, “I would  _ hope _ that even you aren’t idiotic enough to finish that sentence. You’re here at  _ my _ behest, not Foresight’s. He’d just as soon kill you.” Lio checked the IV fixed to Thymos’ arm, making sure that his weak thrashing against the restraints hadn’t dislodged it. He’d do better to be still or it would just cause even more discomfort. And there was no chance he was breaking out of these. His hands were fixed just above his head in anti-Burnish restraints built into the bed, his feet cuffed to stirrups at its base. It must be a little straining, but Thymos would just have to get used to it for nwo.

“Then just kill me,” Thymos shouted, as best as he could with his throat still so dry.

“I just said  _ I’m _ the one that wants you here, and I don’t want you dead,” Lio said off handedly, circling around and tightening some of the more ordinary restraints so that Galo couldn’t move quite so much. There were some leather straps keeping him fixed to the bed, pulling them a notch or two tighter might not be as comfortable, but security was more important for the moment, “Maybe eventually, but first you’re going to do some things for me.” 

“Like hell I am, you bastard,” Galo’s face was twisted in anger and frustration--he didn’t have much give to move at all anymore. Good. Less likely he would hurt himself. 

“It’s cute that you think you have a choice,” Lio said, feigning tenderness with a soft touch to Galo’s cheek. He couldn’t help but smirk as Galo tried to twist his head to bite him, as if that would do him any good. “You’re going to have a few visitors, soon. When you decide to be more accommodating you can call for me.”

“Fuck off!”

Lio ignored him, pressing his fingers hard into Galo’s skin. He could feel the low hum of blood and something else underneath the skin, and it was  _ electric _ . Even restrained like this, with his access to the promare severely limited, it was like being next to the flow of lava. Lio wanted to bottle that feeling up, it was like he could almost just reach into him and grab it. 

“My name is Lio Fotia. When you decide to behave, if you beg for me, I might just end the tests early. Only because you’re so cute, and I can’t wait to see you take down a peg.”

“I’m never going to beg  _ you _ for anything!” 

“See? That’s what I mean, you’re  _ very _ cute.” Lio smiled and pinched Galo’s cheek just so. Tearing his hand away from him was harder than he expected though--he would just as soon dig in. He knew that breaking open his skin wouldn’t  _ actually _ unleash anything, but it felt like it might. Lio was so close. There had been other Burnish test subjects, of course, but the draw had never been quite like this. He hadn’t even stuck around to personally monitor any of the other subjects before. Maybe it only felt more personal because he was the one who had fought and captured this one, or maybe . . . there  _ was _ something drawing them together. Galo must feel it, too. Lio didn’t expect that he would admit it now, but he would. 

“You can say whatever you like, but you’re not going to break me. My burning soul burns too bright for you to extinguish!.” He was huffing with the effort of near-shouting the words, but he would regain some of the strength soon. After all, as far as Lio could tell, most of his injuries from the fight yesterday had already healed, rib fractures and all. 

“I think you’ve misunderstood my intentions, I hardly want to extinguish you, Galo Thymos. I want to see just how bright you can burn for me.” Lio patted against his cheek softly, leaning in and kissing his forehead, just to watch him twist and sputter. He moved around the side of the bed, and lifted up the hospital gown.

“What the fuck are you doing,” Galo croaked, and  _ there _ was the first bit of nervousness he should have been feeling since he had first woken up. 

“Admiring. It’s a shame you won’t get to use this, it's a rather impressive specimen,” He said thoughtfully, delighting as Galo tried and failed to squirm away. Lio reached over to the table next to the bed, watching as Galo’s face paled once he actually  _ noticed _ the trays and the varieties of instruments on it. Lio pulled a pair of gloves from the box on the tray, making a show of snapping them on and grabbing something from the table, purposefully angling himself so that Galo couldn't see.

“What are you doing?” Galo asked, voice only barely wavering--surely he had seen the varieties of scalpels, but those weren’t for now anyway. 

“Relax,” Lio said, just a little amused by how quickly Galo’s bluster was wavering, “There’s just a little preparatory work to do before we can begin. Trust me, you’ll like it better this way.”

Lio tore open the package carefully and reached over to the bottle on the tray to pump out some lubricant onto his fingers. He carefully spread it over the inside of the cock ring before he stepped back towards Galo. 

“Don’t look so nervous, this part isn’t going to hurt,” he said, reaching over to lift Galo’s soft cock to slide the ring down over the base.

“Don’t fucking touch--stop it! Let me go, you asshole!” Galo tried to thrash, but there was no room for him to go, no matter how hard he tried to move away from Lio’s touch as he reached down to pull each of Galo’s balls through the silicone ring. Lio heard the sounds as Galo tried to wrap himself in flames--but Lio could feel the steam push down as the rapid cooling restraints stopped him in his tracks.

Lio glanced up, watching as Galo’s face twisted at the sharp bite of cold on his hands, “You won’t be able to break those no matter what you do. They’ll only give you frostbite if you keep on.” He reached over to pump out some more lube onto his gloves before moving around. Galo tried to thrash again as Lio pushed the stirrups further out, spreading Galo’s legs with them. 

“You might as well relax,” Lio said, even though he really didn’t mean it. Where was the fun in it if Galo did just break down and let it happen. He didn’t give him a moment to get a word in edgewise before he pressed his finger against Galo’s hole. He teased a little, taking perhaps too much delight as he watched Galo continue to strain and pull away from him. 

“The second I get out of these things--”

“What? Are you going to do something bad to me?” Lio asked, smirking as he pushed the finger deep inside him, “I recall you boasting some time during your fight that you don’t kill anyone.”

“I can still make you pay,” Galo hissed through gritted teeth. He was still twisting in the restraints, even as Lio pushed a second finger in. He was clinical about it, pushing in and stretching him out. He only barely brushed up against his prostate just to watch Galo jerk once, before he pushed in a third finger. 

“We’ll see if you still want to, later,” Lio said, noncommittally. He gave Galo a moment before he continued, even though the Burnish kept running his mouth with weak threats. 

“You can do what you want to me, but I’m not going to give in or give up, or whatever it is you want from me,” He sounded even more strained, his breath coming out in ragged puffs. 

“Galo,” Lio chided softly, “I already told you that’s not what I want. I want to see you burn brighter, for me.”

Before Galo could say anything else, Lio abruptly pulled his fingers out, wiping the rest of the lube off on Galo’s thigh before he stripped the gloves off and threw them in the bin next underneath the table. “I think this is enough for now, though.”

“Fuck you, you’re not touching me again!”

“No, I’m not. Not until you ask for me,” Lio replied. “When you’re ready for it to stop, all you have to do is call for me. You won’t be able to see me, but I’ll be watching.” 

Lio watched him, for just a moment longer. He wondered what was going through that head of his, Galo had something sharp on his tongue--Lio could see it, but there was unease in his eyes, doubt, behind those flickering eyes. 

“You’ll be just fine, relax, and you might even enjoy yourself,” Lio said. He was tempted to reach out and give him a quick little pat--but he had made a promise. He really wasn’t going to touch him again until Galo asked for it. 

“Fuck you. I’m going to burn this whole goddamn building to the ground when I get loose, and you sure as hell are gonna be in it when it goes down,” Galo was straining again--a pity, he really should be saving that strength.

“I sure hope that I am,” Lio said, turning away from him. He picked his laptop up from the desk he had been sitting at earlier, and walked out towards his observation room and the full extent of his monitoring equipment--he was certainly going to need it. 

***

“Preparing for tests to begin. Participants may enter the room.” 

It had only been a few minutes, but Galo had nearly screamed himself hoarse and probably gotten halfway to giving himself frostbite nearly as soon as Lio left the room. The rapid cooling suppressors had gone off nearly a dozen times in half as many minutes--which was honestly rather impressive in terms of his stamina, as foolish as it was for him to keep trying. Lio was keeping an eye on the temperature, censors, still. He may want him to get hurt a little--but not before the real fun started. This would have been an awful lot of set up for that. 

When the buzzer and the announcement went off--the doors opened and the people began filtering in. Mostly Foresight Foundation employees of the more . . . unscrupulous varieties. Lio honestly didn’t know, it was below his pay grade to worry about it--all he knew was that they had all been screened extensively and were getting a hefty paycheck  _ and _ the opportunity to give a Mad Burnish leader his comeuppance. Although when the early stages of the experiment had been planned, they hadn’t known they would be able to capture the actual leader, it had always been Lio’s personal plan.

Lio didn’t pay any attention to the chatter of the men as they milled around. They were jeering at Galo, happy to be excessively rude and vulgar as they filled the room. Lio didn’t pay them much attention--but Galo sure was, fighting even harder against the restraints. Lio watched as the steam absolutely  _ poured _ from the restraints at his hands, he glanced at the temperature monitors. Still well within the limits of what the restraints could take, but he would have to find a way to calm him down if it came to it--he didn’t want Galo to lose his hands. 

There was an order, that they were supposed to go in--but there was someone directly in the room to manage that and make sure they listened. Lio’s job was to monitor Galo and keep  _ him _ under control, not corral the men desperate to get their dicks wet in him. 

They were keeping away from Galo, at least they were following the rules, as much as there were any. It gave Lio enough time to make sure that Galo’s temperature had regulated, somewhat. 

“You may begin.”

Lio watched as a few of the men stepped forward, closing into Galo’s space. There was a short commotion before one was pointed forward, and he didn’t waste any time to start undoing his belt and trousers. 

Galo twisted desperately against his restraints--he wouldn’t stop yelling curses and obscenities, threats, and dark promises. He was going to tear his throat open if he kept on like that. Oh well. As long as he could speak. Lio wasn’t going to have him gagged, he needed to be able to speak.

The man wasn’t at all phased by Galo’s resistance, or his threats. As soon as he was free, he was pushing into Galo, ignoring every protest.

Lio watched, rapt, as Galo’s face contorted and he tried his damndest to wrench himself free again. His skin was starting to rub raw under the restraints—Lio was sure his arms must be aching where they rubbed against the heavy suppressor cuffs. Alas, it wasn’t enough to free him—but perhaps to distract him just a little, as the man started driving his hips into him.

Galo was hissing out threats within every breath, yelling as much as he could—he was getting rather creative, honestly. Lio was hooked to the cameras though, watching him twitch from every angle. The man hand his hands on Galo’s spread thighs, wasn't hesitating time to dig his nails into the skin and scrape. Lio wondered if he was one of the ones with a grudge, but he didn really care. They were allowed to do whatever they wanted if it didn’t cause permanent bodily harm.

Not that Galo wouldn’t look good with some more scars, pale white lines crossing across that gorgeous skin. A small penance for the gift he had squandered. Lio would have  _ never _ been caught. His blood wants to boil at the injustice of it all, but at least he can watch as Galo writhes and struggles while the man drives into him. He monitors Galo’s vitals, keeps an eye on the temperature sensors as the Burnish desperately tries and, fails, to effectively call his flames.

_ Weak _ .

It wasn’t much longer before the man’s rhythm stuttered, and he pressed close, slumping just a little as he came inside Galo. Lio was hardly paying him any attention—focusing, instead, on the utterly stricken look on the Burnish’s face, moments before it twisted into rage and he started yelling again. It wasn’t any use, the man was already pulling away from him, leaving Galo messy and open and used—and there was no reprieve. The next contender was already walking forward, unphased by the yelling or the steam or Galo’s struggles.

When he pushed into Galo, the man watched every reaction closely. If the first man had simply wanted to chase his own pleasure, this man wanted to make it even harder on him. As he settled into a rhythm, he made sure to angle his hips in a way that he must be hitting Galo’s prostate on each thrust—judging by the wordless grunts, in between spewing insults and threats, and the way his hips twitched uselessly against the restraints.

Interesting. 

Not that it mattered, really. It wasn’t going to be enough to do anything than drive him a little crazy—unless he was really  _ very  _ sensitive, which would be amusing, if not a little irritating in the case that it might create some outliers in the data. Lio watched for a little while longer, before he finally started taking some notes. He had perhaps been a little lax, in terms of scientific procedure, but the experiment was a little unorthodox to begin with. It didn’t matter much, this was all for Lio’s benefit anyway.

Galo could try, but by the time Lio was done, he wouldn’t be able to hide anything from him. Lio was going to figure out how he worked, inside and out. It was time for Lio to get what he  _ deserved _ .

Even now, Lio could feel it calling to him. A buzz under his skin, an itch he couldn’t scratch. It was all the worse because of Galo, in that room, trying so hard to call to his flames but too weak to actually use them. It left something in the air around them that felt heady and tense. If a match was struck, the whole room might just flare up around them. Lio was tempted to try it.

Galo was too preoccupied to really notice, Lio supposed. He would have to feel it soon, surely. How could he not?

It seemed like Galo was certainly feeling  _ something _ , based on what he was hearing. A strangled, hoarse moan. There was someone else fucking Galo now—was this four? or five? Lio hadn’t been keeping count as well as he should have. He could probably ask--Galo probably still had his wits about him, mostly.

The new man had a hand wrapped around Galo’s cock, stroking him and squeezing just a little too right around him as he moved. Galo’s face was screwed up, tight, like it was absolute torture to be touched in such a way.

“Just a little slut, after all, huh?” Lio could barely hear the man through the chatter and the background noise. 

“Fuck you,” Galo choked out, and Lio hadn’t realized how hoarse his voice had gotten. Lio wondered how much it would take him to lose it completely, although that could be problematic. Lio needed to hear his voice, after all, when Galo came to his senses.

The man seemed to get tired of teasing Galo though, eventually moving both of his hands to hold him by the hips while he fucked him. Galo’s cock was left neglected, curving towards his stomach, smearing precum against it. It wasn’t like the point had been to get him off, anyway.

The man’s fingers were digging deep into Galo’ hips, he was squeezing  _ hard _ judging by the indents he was leaving in his skin. Adding new bruises onto the ones that were already fading from the previous men. It seemed like his healing was accelerated even for ordinary, non-fire related injuries. 

There was another man after. He picked up one of the scalpels, and started slicing into the flesh of Galo’s thighs while he fucked him. The man was hissing out low curses and threats, he clearly had  _ some _ kind of grudge. Lio didn’t stop him, even when Galo finally broke into pained cries, versus the silence he had been stubbornly maintaining. 

Lio watched as Galo tried to twist away, but there was nothing he could do to get away from it. Each cut working its way up from his knee towards his upper thigh, criss crossing and making a mess of his skin. 

The man moved the scalpel up, trailing it down over the skin over Galo’s hip bone. It was barely a paper cut, but he was getting dangerously close to Galo’s cock. For a moment, Lio thought he might have to intervene on his own, but then he heard it, like honey to his ears.

“Lio.”

It was laced with a note of terror, high and stretched thin.

The man either didn’t hear or he didn’t care, and kept driving into Galo. Lio’s temper flared--there were  _ rules _ , and each one had agreed. Lio slammed his hand down on the key to activate the speaker, “Drop the scalpel and  _ stop _ . You agreed to the rules.” He bit out. Lio pushed himself out of the chair and stormed out of the room, glaring at everyone who dared to look at him. “Everyone,  _ out _ .”

There was a brief moment of grumbling--some men were probably upset they hadn’t gotten a turn. Too bad. Galo was  _ his _ now.

“Out, or you’ll be on the table next. Burnish or not.” 

The man finally stepped away from Galo--he gave Lio a look. Hmm. He’d have to get the handler to give him the information on that one. He could be dealt with later, but he would be dealt with. Lio didn’t let insubordination go without punishment anymore than Foresight did.

Lio ignored them as they filed out. When the handler was out with the rest of them, Lio locked the door behind them. No one would get in, even Foresight himself couldn’t override the security codes that Lio had put in place.

“Look what a mess they made of you, darling,” Lio said, voice soft as he walked back over to Galo. Some of the cuts on his legs were deeper than Lio had realized--but his healing factor should take care of it all well enough.

Galo didn’t say anything, even as Lio traced his fingers over one of the deeper cuts. He wanted to watch the skin knit back together, but there would be time for that later.

“Look at that, so rude to take their fill and leave you wanting. Don’t worry, I’ll take care of you.” Lio moved his hand up, wrapped it around Galo’s cock, smiling as he still twitched into the touch. Not  _ completely _ out of it, then.

Lio started a good pace as he jerked him off, twisting his hand around. He was firm, but gentle. It could probably be a little more slick, but the blood would have to do for now. It seemed to be working for Galo, anyway. Lio could feel it in the air, the heady feeling of being so close.

“I’m going to need you to tell me what you want,” Lio said, soothingly, loosening the grip of his hand just a little, teasingly. 

“Lio,” was all that he said, brokenly, and it was so  _ sweet _ how tired he looked, wrecked and bloody and bruised. 

“I’m going to need just a little more than that.”

“Take it off. Need you.”

The words were like fire in his veins, Lio could only smile. He carefully moved to undo the cock ring, and didn’t miss a beat before he wrapped his hand around him again. 

Lio could feel it, as Galo drew closer. It crackled in the air, as he drew up, tight and tense. There was a moment when Lio thought that all the air might be sucked out of him, but then Galo came, spilling over his fist and the rush of unignited flames made Lio want to burst too. 

It was  _ maddening _ . He couldn’t stand it. They were hardly far enough along in this, but for a moment, Galo was loose and relaxed and practically fucked out of his mind--what harm could it do?

Lio reached up to release the mechanisms on Galo’s cuffs. One by one, the locks unclicked, and Lio reached up to push the heavy restraints away enough to pull Galo’s hands free, lacing their fingers together. Galo’s fingers were stiff, cold, but Lio could feel them warming up through their touch.

Lio could feel it. In Galo’s veins. He could hear the, rushing in his ears, at the edge of his mind. Did Galo hear the same voices--or was it different for him, since he could actually use them?

“Do you feel it, too? What we share?” Lio asked, squeezing Galo’s hands tighter. God--if he wasn’t such a mess, Lio would have fucked him himself, he wanted to touch him more, wanted more skin-to-skin contact, to see if it would feel even more intense.

Galo was in and out of it--he had lost a little blood, Lio supposed, was plenty tired. He was looking up at Lio with bleary eyes, confused.

And then he seemed to realize, as the feeling came back into his fingers, that he was free. Lio watched the recognition dawn on him, and his heart was pounding. Lio could _feel_ _it_ as Galo called out to the flames. It sung in Lio’s blood.

The room ignited around their joined hands like a flash fire.

For a moment it was too much, and Lio choked on the flames and the fire around them, consuming all the oxygen in the room--but then he squeezed Galo’s hands tight--and for just a moment he focused, until he could feel it--the shape of every twisting flame, every sharp edge and every sweet curve.

He called to it, and it came to him, flooding into him as he held tightly onto Galo’s hands. He could feel it singing through him, as the flames calmed around them--bending to his will. Galo was looking at him with something like horror as Lio twisted the flames around them in delight. 

“Oh, look at what we can do.” Lio said, excitedly. The fire flickered in his eyes, but it was so much to try to hold on to, too much for just this first taste, even though he didn’t want to let go. “You’re just what I’ve been waiting for. We are going to have so much fun together.” 

A promise, and, perhaps, a threat.

  
  



End file.
